Ottawa Police have tabled their 2017 draft operating and capital budget, and it will translate to a small tax increase for residents.
The service is projecting a net operating budget of $285.9-million on a gross operating budget of $320.2-million.It's a net increase of $8.9-million, which would translate to the average homeowner paying an extra $11 next year.
Speaking on CFRA's Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon Police Services Board chair Eli El-Chantiry says part of this increase comes from the hiring of new officers.
"83 per cent of our police budget is salary and benefits," he says.
According to the Draft Budget document, $6.5 million of the $7.1 million increase needed to maintain services is listed as "Net Compensation."
The budget includes the hiring of 25 new officers. These will be in addition to replacement hires for retirements. The draft budget also forecasts for another 25 hires in 2018.
The hiring of new officers will cost $2.1 million.
El-Chantiry says more officers are being hired due to the changing nature of crime in the Capital.
"The calls for service are sometimes on the decline, but people don't understand the type of crime today has changed from what we used to see," he says. "We have the highest record of homicides in our city [since 1995], and if it's not gun violence, it's knife violence."
Other items in the draft budget include $1.5 million set aside for securing Ottawa 2017 events. The budget says the majority of the more than 1,200 events planned for next year will have "little or no impact on the OPS" but there are 10 major events that will require significant planning. Police say the cost estimate is based on known events and threat-levels October 2016, and the cost could change if those factors also change.
Police say the budget also includes funding foritems like the employee wellness program, implementation of online background checks, the continuation of the Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Program and a feasibility study on body-cameras.